Loyalty
by Wordgawk
Summary: It is not only the end that Archer looks out for.


**Author's note: At long last getting around to playing the Fate visual novel has brought me back to writing for a series I haven't written for in a long while. I can fully understand now how the anime series is bare bones compared to all the info the actual game has. This fic takes place during the Unlimited Blade Works route. **

* * *

Loyalty

The body is heavy with unconsciousness as it's carried. It jostles against the crook of an arm as someone snatches it away from the ground.

Both entities become airborne at irregular intervals, rushing and falling. The falls should tug harder at the near lifeless form, but it only senses lightness.

Minutes pass before Rin realizes it's her body that's moving. She is still asleep, but it is not a deep slumber. A tiny part of her feels she can almost break free from its alluring depths and surface to awareness.

Perhaps she dreams all this. She could already be in bed, under warm covers and very tired.

If this were true, what is the wave of sorrow that seeps into her bones and floods her lungs so she can't breathe?

From far off, she hears a grunt and a splinter of wood. A metal doorknobs twists open and squeaks in protest.

The breathing that is not her own is shallow. Those breaths she places with the voice as another grunt sounds.

Archer. He has betrayed her, throwing away his role as Servant by unwinding the chains of the Command Seal. Now he has stolen her from Saber and Shirou to gain leverage for his own secret plans. Deep pity and resentment invades her.

The hole of agony stretches open its maw, wrenching apart Rin's heart. She wishes she could escape.

* * *

The dilapidated room is in organizational chaos. Broken crates and rusting building tools and supplies make up most of it. The stale musty odor of mildew hangs in the air. Archer turns his nose up at the offense to his olfactory nerves. Regardless, he enters the room, careful not to bruise his precious cargo gathered in his arms.

Archer spots rope on the other side of the room. A chair is required which isn't in here. Their combination is perfect for keeping the woman resistant when she regains consciousness. He'll have to search elsewhere in this musty Einzbern castle for one.

His mind is trained on obtaining his ultimate wish of killing Shirou Emiya. He has sacrificed everything else including his former Master's honor and trust to pursue his lofty goal. Rin will not break him no matter what she says or does to him. Archer has passed his trials.

His narrowed eyes take in her face. He has seen it many times as they had conspired against their foes, as they schemed the trivialities of brewing morning tea. Yes, they battled against enemies, Masters and Servants, each consecutive set stronger than the previous. He has become such an adversary to her, now.

Darkness seizes Archer's thoughts. He can toss her to the ground, claw her hair back and straddle her, and ravage her soft skin. Archer can do as he wishes when she can't use that damned Command Seal to control him. She is a hostage.

_She is Rin._

His stomach churns. He studies her shut eyes again. Pained creases tug her eyelids down.

Attempting to ignore the pang of guilt twinging in his chest, Archer leads them to the middle of the room. He mechanically slides Rin's body to the floor, moving his arms to detach her appendages from entwining in his own.

His fingers move against his waist to remove her weight off him and he stops. Cream against crimson, Rin's small fingers have latched on to the edge of his cloak. The fabric is bunched in her hand, as if she wanted to grip as much as possible.

How long has she held on like that? How could she after his inexcusable betrayal against her?

Easing her grip loose, Archer is overcome by an irrational urge and he does something he has never done. He raises the fingers and softly presses them against his mouth in supplication. No matter how much his ideal smothers denial, the gnaw chips away at Archer's psyche. Rin's warmth thaws his one-track thoughts and flickers in him desire for something besides perpetual mourning, loss, and endless killing cycles.

Archer's heart thuds and he drops her hand. He can't cave in.

Rin is propped in a sitting position, her arms in her lap and legs curled beneath her. Archer supports her by keeping his palm against her upper back. Under his hand he feels the steady beat of her heart. One, two, three, four, five...

An almost imperceptible tremor shakes her. Archer is confused, as he has not activated any magic. He then notices on the bare skin of her thigh not covered by her stockings a ripple of goosebumps.

He instinctively looks around for a heat source. A fireplace or a blanket. He stops when he realizes the iron inside him is bending.

Archer allows his edge to relax. He sits behind Rin and drapes his cloak around one shoulder, over her chest and to the other shoulder. Her unconscious shivers taper in slow minutes.

It is these ticking minutes that Archer, in all his ardent allegiance to his goal, wonders about a devotion of a different type. His eyes cast down to the sleeping woman.

- THE END -


End file.
